If you’re thinking I built a house because I’m some kind of natural born doer, some non-procrastinator, some anomaly who has never played a time-waster on my cell phone, think again. I have put off calls, ignored emails, and skipped laundry for a weekend Netflix binge just as often as the next person. And it wasn’t until I was in a horrible place as a single mother of four that I even recognized how badly I needed to do something big. Something that would forever change the trajectory of my life. BUT something was holding me back.
I was ready to stop being the type of person who says, “I’ll do this someday,” and become the person who says, “I’ll do this now.” I was determined to set my default mode to: Take Action. But first I had to get myself unstuck.
Then I had the idea that changed everything. It was big—REALLY BIG.
I decided to stop waiting for things to get better. To instead just immediately take action when any idea for improving my life popped into my head. And the next idea I had? It was that my four kids and I would build a house. Why? Because we needed one and didn’t have the money to buy one we’d be proud of. The fact that we didn’t know how to build a house—that didn’t slow me down at all.
Within days of this idea, I bought an acre of land and secured a construction loan to buy all the supplies. My kids were 17, 15, 11, & 2. (Hope, Drew, Jada, and little Roman) And they were all in. After years of feeling like they had no control, they jumped at the opportunity to literally build themselves a better life. This was the fall of 2007, so YouTube was brand new, and we hadn’t even heard of smart phones yet. The kids and I watched videos on our home computer. How to set a foundation block. How to pour a slab. How to frame a wall and a window. How to do plumbing. How to run gas lines—without blowing anyone up.
We gave ourselves permission to fail...until we figured it out.
With only 9 months to finish the entire house—while I was working full time as a computer programmer and the kids were in school—we didn’t have time to research and practice each step to perfection. We knew how to cut a board and hammer a nail, and all the details would became on-site trial and error. One search at a time, we learned how to build a house. And one laugh, one dance through knee-deep concrete, one “pass me that 2x4” at a time, we began to rebuild our family.
Every day, my kids and I wake up surrounded by proof that our minds and our bodies can do incredible things.
WE BUILT A 3500 SQUARE FOOT HOUSE WITH FIVE BEDROOMS, THREE BATHROOMS, A THREE CAR GARAGE, AN ENORMOUS SHOP, AND A TWO-STORY TREE HOUSE.
